Russia and Ireland. Russian Orthodox and Irish Catholic churches and capitalism.

Criminal leaders of the Catholic Church

By Sean O'Torrain.

I see that thug at the head of the sports industry in Russia has been disciplined for the racist and sexist remarks he made about the African American tennis playing sisters, the Williams. He deserves all he gets.  This made me think about a similarity that exists between Ireland and Russia.

When the gangster capitalists around Putin, and also those who were and are competing with Putin's gang, stole everything that was not nailed down, privatized everything that was not nailed down, and made themselves into billionaires, they were left with a problem. They were not popular. This is putting it mildly. In fact the truth is they were hated. The truth is they had and have no social base. This is where the backward orthodox churches came in.

You are all familiar with them with their weird hats to make them look taller, their weird robes to make them look important and so-called sacred, their big staffs to make them look intimidating, and their straggly dirty looking beards, I do not know what these are for. The new capitalist class gave this organization, run by a clique of backward freaks, back their property and position in society. In return for this these creatures support the gangster capitalists and their system all the way.  In return they get pushing their agenda against women and against any kind of sexual relations of which they do not approve. Well at least do not approve openly. This is why these churches have power and why attitudes to gay people and other gender minorities are so backward in the former soviet union. It is because of the weakness of Russian capitalism and its need for this outfit as an ally.

This brings me to Ireland. When the 26 counties got its so-called independence the Irish capitalist class were in a very vulnerable position. They had not lead the struggle against British rule, in fact for most of the time they had opposed it. This struggle was fought by workers, small farmers and intellectuals. So when the 26 counties got their so-called independence the capitalist class were worried. They needed allies. They and their system needed propping up. They turned to the Catholic church as the new Russian capitalist class have turned to the orthodox churches. And the Irish capitalist class made a deal. The Irish catholic church could have control over the schools, the heath care system, a veto over all social legislation, they could have the country declared a catholic country. The point man in this was the extreme right wing catholic reactionary De Valera who had squirmed his way out of being executed with the rest of the 1916 leaders. The result of this has been the horror of the crimes of the Catholic church in Ireland. The slave labor in the laundries, the stealing of the children from mothers who were not married, the sexual abuse and on and on. And on top of that by making the South a catholic state the strengthening of the Protestant state and Loyalism in the North. Irish capitalism lies at the root of the sectarian state and the crimes of the Catholic church in Ireland.

There is a similarity between Ireland and Russia. The similarity is that the weakness of capitalism in both states has strengthened the right wing reactionary religious organizations, has cultivated them, has given them space and encouragement to grow. As they say nature abhors a vacuum.